Infrastructure, Effective Governance vital to Unlocking Rivers’ Blue Economy ~ Correspondents

ksmar April 9, 2025 Business Leave a comment 489 Views

The Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Rivers State council, has said that development of infrastructure, effective governance and sustainable practices as well as stakeholder engagement are crucial to unlocking the blue economy potential of the state.

Chairman of the Chapel, Mr. Amaechi Okonkwo, disclosed this on Monday in his welcome address during the opening ceremony of the 2025 Correspondents’ Week in Port Harcourt.

The week-long event is with the theme: ‘Blue Economy: Starting Steps for Rivers State,’ while the sub-theme is: ‘Enhancing the Economic Welfare of Journalists in a Period of Economic Crisis.’

Okonkwo said: “Rivers State being just as rich in ocean resources as in oil and gas, we reasoned, should also position herself as a premium maritime state by deploying the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods and job creation.

“The state possesses significant blue economy potential, particularly in fisheries, tourism and maritime transport, contributing about 35 percent to the state’s GDP. To unlock this potential, infrastructure development, effective governance, sustainable practices and stakeholder engagement are crucial.

“We believe that to be able to do this, there are some necessary steps the state needs to take to align with the vision and goals of the federal administration for creating that ministry at this time, hence the choice of the theme for this year’s Correspondents’ Week.”

In her goodwill message, President of the Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (PHCCIMA), Dr. Chinyere Nwoga, said the chamber has enjoyed a lot of goodwill from journalists in Rivers State.

Nwoga said: “We are happy and proud of the solid and harmonious relationship we have with the media and journalists. The Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce has enjoyed a lot of goodwill from journalists.

“Journalists, generally are multi-functioned, holding public officers accountable, ensuring transparency, shaping the voice of the populace and ensuring that important issues and brought up for discourse. Journalists also provide a platform and woman to be heard.

“We rely on the media to get balanced account of what is happening. We also know of your unbiased assessment of issues. We expect journalists to be fairest and conveyors of truth and justice. We are not unaware of the challenges you face in trying to do your job.”

She stated that PHCCIMA shares some tenets with the media and gas been ensuring transparency, accountability and strict adherence to best global practices.

The PHCCIMA President said: “We as a chamber share some tenets with you. We ensure transparency, accountability and strict adherence to best global practices.

“The mission of the chamber is to remain a voice for the business community and to support businesses and startups through business support and member-to-member patronage.”

Also in his goodwill message, Chairman of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the state, Comrade Paul Bazia, lauded the Correspondents’ Chapel for delving into the issue of blue economy, which is part of the development communication plan of the new leadership of the union

Bazia said: “Few months ago when we were searching for new leadership for NUJ, we did promise that in the next three years, the union will be setting agenda for development communication. The Correspondents’ Chapel has partly come up with what we are looking towards. We are setting agenda for economy diversification.”

Share Post on

Check Also

Make Methane Reduction a Business Priority, NLNG’s Falade urges Gas Industry

... Says Monetisation Initiative Cut Nigeria’s Gas Flaring from 65% to 20%  By Paul Williams   NLNG has urged the global gas industry to make methane reduction a business priority, adding that every tonne of methane released into the atmosphere represents lost revenue and gas that could otherwise reach the market.  The company said its experience shows that investment in reducing these losses can pay for itself while cutting emissions and improving plant efficiency.  Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NLNG, Mr Adeleye Falade, made the call at Gastech 2026 Exhibition and Conference in Bangkok during a panel titled “Capturing the Lost Opportunity: Driving Global Alignment on Methane Abatement Across Natural Gas Supply Chains.”  He said the NLNG approach starts with measuring methane losses and using the findings to guide investment in leak prevention and gas recovery, with independent verification to ensure credible reporting.  Falade said the industry needed to shift the conversation from the cost of methane reduction to the value it creates, recognising that preventing gas losses serves both commercial and environmental objectives.  “Every tonne emitted is lost product, lost revenue and lost energy; gas we could have sold. Every molecule of methane avoided is both an emissions reduction and a recovered energy resource,” he said.  He cited NLNG’s new boil-off gas compressor and start-up gas recovery project as examples of investments that support this approach. Each project targets methane reductions of approximately 10–15 per cent, and both have positive projected net present values, meaning their anticipated financial benefits exceed their costs over the life of the projects.  Falade said, “The most compelling business case is the simplest one: the projects that cut our methane also pay for themselves. The same discipline that reduces methane also improves asset reliability and plant efficiency. The returns show up in more places than the emissions ledger.”  He explained that credible measurement underpins NLNG’s investment decisions, which allows the company to identify methane losses, direct resources to the right interventions and assess the results.  He noted that NLNG’s experience demonstrates that gas producers in developing economies can establish globally trusted emissions-reporting systems by investing in monitoring infrastructure, building reporting capabilities and submitting their data to independent scrutiny.  Falade highlighted NLNG’s Gold Standard recognition under the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP) 2.0 and said the company was the first in Africa to achieve Level 5 methane emissions reporting.  He added that its measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) system is independently assured by DNV in accordance with ISO 14064.  NLNG’s approach includes site-wide optical gas imaging, a structured Leak Detection and Repair programme, and the phased deployment of continuous monitoring and real-time dashboards across its plant and vessels.  …

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Powered & Designed by SuccessTrend Web
© Copyright 2017 - 2026 PhMundial, All Rights Reserved